A Conscious Imperative
"Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected...as the old consciousness dissolves, there are bound to be synchronistic geographic and climatic natural upheavals in many parts of the planet, some of which we are witnessing now." --Eckhart Tolle
It has been snowing ash in Portland. For the past few days, stepping outside to afternoon temperatures near 100 degrees, into a haze thick and grey has been akin to stepping into a sauna that is burning campfire wood with the flue closed. Instead of the cloudless blue of summer, or the cool grey overcast of the rest of the year, the sky has taken on a white density. Folks walk around with bandannas and face masks, there are minimal bikers on the road, and few people are outside. It feels more like fallout than school season. As the West burns, the Gulf of Mexico floods, and the eastern seaboard braces for increasingly strong hurricanes.
We are now in the Anthropocene, the time when humans are aware of and can objectively measure the extent to which their activities have an impact on the planet. The brilliant human intelligence that has led to the technology and development of modernity has also served to amplify the destructive capability that unconsciousness has on life. On an individual level, allowing the ego to drive thought and action leads to fear, greed, and the desire for power. The ego is fueled by attachment to form - because it cannot feel, it must have. At the root of this is the false premise that humans are somehow separate from or even superior to Nature. Humans, like all of the other life on this planet are of Nature. Viewed from this perspective, the health and sanity of our individual thoughts and actions contributes to the health and sanity of our collective thoughts and actions.
The intrinsic connection Mr. Tolle refers to is how the state of collective human consciousness is being reflected in the material world it inhabits. As the quantitative impact of humanity continues to increase, it is more important than ever to look at the quality of this impact. What are our thoughts and actions doing to ourselves, each other, and the environment?
One of my yoga teachers recently shared that the current darkness and perceived chaos happening in the world is not necessarily the darkness of the tomb; that instead it could be the darkness of the womb. An opportunity - and at this stage an imperative - for humanity to birth itself out of the darkness it has created from living unconsciously.
How to Shape the Mind
“Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.” – Marcus Aurelius
The habits, behaviors, and strategies that people develop only start to take root with repetition. If you eat salad once a month in order to “get your greens,” it will be better than not eating it all, but realistically it doesn’t reflect a healthy diet. The body will respond to what you ask it to do most often. The fitness of gymnasts and athletes reflects this as does the conditioning of people who spend much of their time at a desk or on a couch. There is an observable and predictable relationship between habit and health.
As Marcus Aurelius reminds us, this relationship is also at work with our attention. There is little that we can do to control external circumstances and the onslaught of the stresses of life. Yet the extent to which those external stresses color our spirit is determined by how much we allow them to do so.
The recent passing of the solar eclipse presents an opportunity for massive reorganization on all levels. It is a time to choose and to begin to consciously shape what we are calling into life. This happens when we accept the responsibility of being accountable to what we frequently hold in thought and what kind of energy we bring to the field.
I’ve found it helpful to ask: What are you frequently holding in thought? Is it serving to uplift you? Does it support those around you? Is it congruent with what you want your life to look like?
The Problem with Maintenance
In the alternative health field, many people choose to continue care even after there has been resolution of the problem for which they initially sought treatment. In the absence of pain or a clinical condition, continuing care that is “not deemed medically necessary” is called maintenance care. The implication is that the person has achieved a state of health that is better than when they began and they desire to stay there.
This is a reasonable position and one that is understandably desirable. There is also a problem with this perspective.
The problem of maintenance is that the objective is to plateau. The very nature of the language and the intent of maintenance is to keep someone where they are. Even if the current state is better than the old state, if the goal is stasis, this is inherently limiting in both perspective and in practice.
The experience of life and how we are able to navigate through storm and still is not done by picking a place and staying there. Life happens in the balance of stability and instability. There is comfort in stability, but also a massive impediment to growth.
A richer alternative to maintenance would be, as the Stoic philosopher Epictetus counselled, to “make the mind adaptable to any circumstances.” The adaptability of the mind is a direct reflection of the integrity and the tone of the nervous system. It stands to reason (and is evidenced in practice) that an approach to health, wellness, and well-being that promotes neural integrity will not lead to maintaining a static plateau, but a way to embody strategies that advance the human condition.
